


Everything I Didn't Say

by SorryICantBeWhatYouNeed



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: The others aren't really in it, idk - Freeform, it's kinda sad i guess, just mentioned, not really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-11
Updated: 2015-10-11
Packaged: 2018-04-25 20:45:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4975900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SorryICantBeWhatYouNeed/pseuds/SorryICantBeWhatYouNeed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The box arrived on a Sunday</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everything I Didn't Say

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted anything in a while, I've been super busy settling into school and work and all that fun stuff so I haven't had much time to write.  
> This idea came to me a long time ago but I was too lazy to write it until recently and I hope you guys enjoy it.  
> Title from: Everything I Didn't Say by 5 Seconds of Summer.

The box arrived on a Sunday.

Gavin had just woken up and made himself a cup of tea when he heard the doorbell. He padded down the hallway rubbing sleep from his eyes before peering through the peephole.

“What?” he whispered to himself when he noticed that there was no one in sight, the only thing visible was the bush at the end of the driveway.

Shrugging, he pulled the door open and stepped outside looking both left and right and seeing no sign of anyone ever being there.

“Going bloody crazy,” he muttered, turning around to walk back inside when he kicked something on the ground.

When he looked down he saw a blue shoe box with yellow swirls and across the top was a piece of white duct tape with his name written on it. There was no sender name or address so he knew that whoever sent it had delivered it themselves.

Slowly he bent down to pick it up, looking around once more before slipping back inside. He went straight for his bedroom, setting his tea on the nightstand and jumping on top of his comforter.

“Alright,” he said, “let’s see what this is about,”

When he opened the box he was met with a stack of envelopes held together by a red string. He lifted the stack from the box, eyes wide at just how many there were. They were all blue except for one red one, a yellow one, a pink one and one black one and each had a date written across the front.

He decided just to start from the top and ripped the first blue envelope open. He didn’t even need to finish reading the first line before he knew who it was from.

_Today was your first day._

Gavin threw the paper down and got out of bed, grabbing his, now cold, tea and heading towards the kitchen. He dumped the mugs contents out and rinsed it before pacing the room a few times and muttering to himself.

He and Michael had been broken up for three months now, and Gavin was finally starting to get back to how things were before he fell in love. So he was a little confused as to why Michael would pick now to send these letters, whatever they were.

He considered calling Ryan or Ray, asking if they had known anything about this since they were both closer to the redhead, but he knew that they’d play innocent even if they did know, so he took a deep breath and shuffled back into his room, sitting hesitantly on his bed before continuing to read.

_You’re so annoying! Walking around like you own the place just because you’re living with Geoff, Ray and I already agreed that you’re an asshole._

Gavin laughed at that, remembering back to his first day at Achievement Hunter. It was Valentine’s Day and Geoff took it upon himself to decorate the office in hearts and glitter just to fuck with everyone else. He could practically hear Michael’s sigh when he walked in and looked around before his eyes settled on him.

“Who the fuck are you?” he asked, looking startled.

“Names Gavin,” he smiled, sticking his hand out for the other to shake, but he was ignored as Michael lifted his can of red bull to his mouth and took a slow sip, eyes calculating Gavin’s every move.

“Aw what is this shit?” Ray asked when he walked in seconds later, eyes barely pausing on Gavin before taking in the large red heart taped to his monitor. “You suck,” he told Geoff, sulking over and ripping the heart off.

Things had gone smoothly after, Jack entered and they got right to work, playing around in different games until they came up with an idea good enough to film in.

Geoff eventually settled on Minecraft, telling them that he’d start a new world for them to run around in and create and at the end of an hour whoever made the best house would win.

Gavin had made it his mission to become friends with Michael and Ray so he went about it the only way he knew how; fucking up all their work.

With only five minutes left on the timer Gavin had snuck into Michael’s wooden house and set it ablaze, throwing lava in every corner before sprinting out and booking it towards Ray’s house across the map.

Of course, it didn’t take long for Michael to figure out who had done it, since he had come out of his crafting menu just to see a creeper sprinting away while the boy next to him giggled hysterically.

“You fuck!” he yelled slamming his hands down on his desk and pushing his chair back. Geoff immediately reached for his phone, recording the exact moment Gavin realized he was fucked, rolling back and taking off, Michael hot on his tail.

Since Gavin was still new he didn’t really know his way around the building, meaning he ran through about five different offices and rooms, disrupting multiple people working, some recording, and some meetings before he found himself cornered in the kitchen. He made it to the far end of the room, standing behind a table while other coworkers ate, looking nervously between the two boys.

“Michael no!” Gavin yelled, laughing as the redhead closed in, Geoff stood in the doorway, face red from laughing, camera held up high as the two boys slowly circled each other, a small table the only thing keeping them apart.

“You better watch yourself Gavin,” Michael snarled, turning on his heel and stalking out the door brushing past Geoff who hit the end button on the recording and smirked at the Brit.

“You’re fucked,”

Gavin only smiled and walked out, returning to the office to see Michael, face still red as he started setting up to play Rage Quit.

“You got balls man,” Ray told him when he sat back down, watching Michael warily.

“You just became public enemy number one,” Jack laughed, gathering up his jacket and keys and heading for the door.

“You can all get out now,” Michael had snapped, glaring at all of them, but Gavin knew his gaze lingered on him longest.

He finished reading the letter, laughing when Michael ended it with, _I can tell I’ll hate your guts._

“Well that’s just not true,” Gavin smiled, riffling through the envelopes until he found the next date. It was two months after the first.

_We recorded a Rage Quit together today and it was horrible. You just fucked up everything I made and laughed. But I’ll admit it was pretty funny watching how scared you were._

Gavin thought back to what they’re first Rage Quit together was, something he would’ve been scared in, and laughed when he remembered it was actually in Minecraft and he was only scared because Michael started slamming his controller around and stomping his feet.

He read through five more, all from the same week, each one just more ranting about how annoying he was, but that they were slowly becoming friends. He’s not really sure why the letters are so rude, that was one of the weeks he went back to England to film with Dan, so it’s not like he even did anything to Michael.

There were two talking about pranks he had pulled on Geoff and Ray, two weeks apart and there was one about the time they got stuck at lunch alone because everyone else had to stay back for editing and they were ahead.

Gavin smiled at the memory. That was the day that their friendship was sealed since they ended up staying out an hour longer than they were permitted, coming back to the office to a very unimpressed Geoff. They didn’t even bother apologizing, just laughing as they bumped their hips together and walked back to their desks.

“Worst employees I’ve ever hired,” Geoff muttered, grabbing their microphones from the corner and beginning to set up.

“But you love us!” Gavin cooed, walking towards the older man for a hug only to get punched in the balls.

He writhed on the floor for a good ten minutes before Michael was pulling him up and setting him on the couch while Ryan went to get some ice.

After that they started making their solo lunches a permanent part of their week, going out at least twice to just get away and talk about what was going on in their lives. Normally they talked about work, but on occasion they’d talk about when they were growing up, their families and friends back home and it was moments like those that Gavin knew he had made a new best friend.

It was the next letter that made him suck in a breath and read slower, taking in every word.

_I’ve known you for six months now, and I can easily say that you’re my best friend. I don’t think I’ve ever clicked with someone like I do with you. I mean yeah we had a rough start, but now it’s all smooth sailing._

He finished it with a smiley face.

Gavin grinned sadly down at the paper, wishing that they could still say that now. After they broke up things had been awkward, silent between them, the only time they’d speak to each other was when they were recording and needed to help each other out for a challenge in a game. Of course Geoff and Ray had tried for the first three weeks to stick them together every chance they got in every game, watching them struggle to find ways to work together without snapping or showing how hurt they were by the split.

The next envelope was the red one; he lifted it carefully from the stack and slowly tore it open.

_You’re so infuriating! Walking around all innocent and pretending you don’t know what you did tonight. We get in one small argument and you go off drinking at the bar, ignoring me because you’re afraid to admit you’re a dumbass._

That one made Gavin cringe as he thought back to the night this could’ve been. Michael didn’t talk to him for another week.

“Gavin what the fuck!” Michael yelled when Gavin slipped around behind him and shut his computer off. It was supposed to be funny, but Michael, who had yet to save any footage even after two hours of work, didn’t think it was humorous at all. Not that Gavin knew that.

“Michael, we’re going out to lunch, come with us,” Gavin whined, resting his head on the redheads shoulder.

“Gavin,” Michael seethed, turning toward him slowly. “I wasn’t done,” he told him.

“You can finish later,” the Brit smiled, tugging on his arm.

“Well, since I didn’t save, I guess I can just restart later,” he snapped at him, pushing his chair back and grabbing his jacket and keys.

“Oh shit,” Ryan mumbled, walking out after him.

“He’s gonna rip you a new one in the car,” Ray laughed following after his boyfriend.

“I didn’t know!” Gavin squawked running after his friends, staying close to Geoff. “Can I ride with you?” he asked.

“Oh no,” Geoff shook his head. “You’re gonna deal with him now, sooner rather than later,” he shrugged, pushing him towards Michael who was leaning against his car waiting, scowl on his face.

Gavin probably should’ve thought better of it since Michael had been in a pissy mood all day, the reason, he later found out when they were dating, was because Gavin was leaving for England again the next day for a week and Michael would miss him.

He slid into the angry man’s car and buckled up, not making eye contact while the car jerked into motion. They weren’t even ten feet from the parking spot when Gavin cracked. “I’m sorry Michael, but if you would have saved this wouldn’t be a problem,” he sang.

“Oh, so this is my fault?” Michael asked, following Ryan’s car down the street.

“Well, I mean,” Gavin shrugged.

“Maybe you should’ve fucking tapped on my shoulder like a normal person if you wanted to ask me to hang out,” he snapped.

“Why are you such a mingy bastard today, this stuff happens all the time,” he argued.

“Yeah, it happens all the time when there are technical difficulties in the entire building, not because my coworker is a fucking dumbass!” he yelled.

It was stupid, the whole argument, they realized that shortly after, but in the heat of the moment it felt like the biggest thing to them both, and when they finally got to the bar for lunch they were both fuming in their seats.

Gavin stormed out of the car and joined Geoff and Jack at the door, waiting for Ryan, Ray and Michael to catch up before they went in.

They sat across from each other avoiding eye contact as they ordered, but it wasn’t long before Gavin decided one beer wasn’t enough, so without a word he stood up and marched to the counter flagging the bartender down and ordering something stronger.

He stayed at the bar long enough to take two shots and drink a full beer, he didn’t realize exactly how long that was until he heard the door slam shut and turned toward his table to see one less angry man and four sets of eyes watching him closely, some nervous, some annoyed and some confused. He inwardly winced as he excused himself and returned to his table, barely touching his food before announcing that he was ready to go back to the office and work some more, an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

It was the stupidest fucking fight they had ever had, but of course when people were stressed about bigger things and hiding them, it was the small things that made them snap.

They didn’t talk again until Gavin had returned from England and Geoff locked them in the office together, standing outside with Ryan and holding the door closed.

It didn’t take more than two minutes for them to crack, leaping into each other’s arms and apologizing like crazy. Gavin for shutting the computer off and Michael for getting so mad about it.

The next GTA video was filled with such sweet endearments between the two that the shipping sky rocketed.

Gavin laughed, looking back at the letter and finishing it, breath hitching when he got to the end.

_I think I… fuck, I think I like you. I think I’m falling for you, you little shit._

Gavin set the letter down and got off his bed again, pacing the room and racking his brain for any reason that he’d be given these now.

Had it been three months ago then it would’ve changed everything. But now, it was too late, they were single and hadn’t really spoken more than five words to each other outside of recordings in just as long. So really, there was no point in Michael giving these to Gavin now.

The Brit grabbed his phone from his nightstand and unlocked it, scrolling through his contacts until he landed on Ray. His finger hovered over the ‘call’ button for all of two seconds before he was holding the phone up to his ear and muttering, ‘pick up, pick up.’

“’lo?” Ray mumbled into the phone, clearly having been woken up.

“Michael brought me a gift this morning,” he said in a rush.

“What was it?” Ray asked, now fully awake, Gavin could hear rustling in the back and assumed that he was now sitting up in bed as he fumbled for his glasses.

“A shoe box,”

“A shoe box?” Ray echoed.

“Yeah, it was full of these bloody letters, like. About me,”

“What?” Ray asked.

“They’re all in order by date and they’re all about me and like, little moments or something, I don’t know,”

“Okay, and?”

“I just, do you know anything about this?” he asked quietly.

There was silence on the other end for a long moment before he responded. “Was it the blue box?”

“Yes! With yellow swirls,”

“He may have mentioned it once or twice,” Ray said nonchalantly, and Gavin knew he was shrugging.

“Is there a point?” Gavin asked suddenly impatient, wanting to get back to the box and finish reading its contents.

“I think you should just read it,” he told him and before Gavin could say another word he hung up.

“Well,” Gavin sighed, tossing his phone onto his bed.

The next one was a month later, only one line written across the top.

_I’m in love with you, Gavin Free._

He felt the tears instantly, blinking rapidly to hold them back. It was dated a whole six months before they started dating. Gavin couldn’t believe that Michael had been in love with him for so long and not done anything about it. He also couldn’t believe that he didn’t realize it sooner, Michael had been very weird leading up to their relationship, small touches on the back when they were walking out the door, guiding him. A hand on his arm so he wouldn’t lose him in crowds, a casual arm thrown around him while they walked down the sidewalk drunk after a night of bevs.

He read three more, short ones about little events that happened at work, things that Michael described as ‘cute’ and ‘perfect’ that he did.

And then there was the yellow one.

_Tonight was our first date. I picked you up at six and we sat on a park bench watching the sunset. I was so scared that you didn’t know I wasn’t joking when I asked you out. I didn’t care that Geoff was mad; I just wanted to be with you._

_We ate at that crappy Mexican place in town and you pretended you liked it cause you didn’t want me to think you were having a bad time, but I knew the instant you took your first bite that you despised that shit._

_Oh God, and then that street performer dressed like a clown started following us around and you held my arm so tightly. I almost didn’t tell him to fuck off just cause I was scared you’d let go of my arm._

_You didn’t though._

They had just finished filming Minecraft when Gavin threw a water bottle at the back of Michael’s head laughing as the redhead pretended to get angry and tackled him to the ground, easily pinning him with his weight while he tickled him.

“Michael! Michael stop!” he heaved, swatting at the redheads hands while trying to wiggle himself away.

“Jesus Christ!” Geoff yelled suddenly gaining everyone’s attention.

“What?” Jack asked startled, already making his way over to his best friend.

“Will you two just fucking date already or some shit? I can’t handle the shameless flirting anymore!” he cried flopping down in his computer chair violently, causing it to tip over and Geoff to go tumbling into a mass of wires and devices under his desk.

Everyone else turned their attention toward him, making sure their boss was alright, that they didn’t notice Michael looking down at Gavin, face red and eyes wide. Gavin’s face, if possible, was even redder than Michael’s as he avoided eye contact. Michael decided to play it off.

“I guess we should go out this weekend then,” he announced. “We can’t let our boss suffer right?” he added hastily.

“Oh of course not,” Gavin grinned.

It was then that they realized they were still lying on the floor, every part of them touching, suddenly too hot in the small room. Michael rolled off quickly, standing up and pretending to brush dirt from his clothes before he reached a hand down for Gavin, smiling stupidly when the Brit held his hand just a little longer than necessary.

He picked him up on a Saturday, pretending to be scared when Geoff pulled out the ‘Hurt my son, I hurt you’ speech. They agreed early on that they had no set destination in mind so they set off for the park.

The sun was setting by the time they got there, parked and walked over to a nearby bench. It had been awkward the second they got into Michael’s car, the redhead reaching out for Gavin’s hand multiple times but always pulling away at the last second.

“So, like, you know this is real right?” Michael blurted suddenly. Gavin’s eyes widened and he let out a loud snort.

“Yes, Michael, I know this is real,”

“And I don’t mean its real as in you aren’t dreaming, I mean this is a real date,” he elaborated. Gavin rolled his eyes and reached out, snatching the other’s hand in his tightly.

“I am well aware boi,” he grinned. Michael didn’t say anything back, but the blush on his face said enough.

They watched the sunset in silence, knees resting gently against each other and hands clasped tightly between them. Gavin knew almost instantly that this wasn’t just gonna be a onetime thing, the calm he felt with Michael next to him, the comfort of just having him near meant something. But he wasn’t going to be telling Michael that anytime soon.

“Do you wanna go get something to eat?” the redhead asked eventually, making to stand up, hand gripping Gavin’s tighter.

“Sure thing,”

They stood from their bench and headed towards the hustle and bustle of town, people running around on their phones, trying to make it someplace on time. They passed multiple couples, happy as can be, cuddled close and whispering sweet nothings. Gavin wondered what they looked like to those couples, if it was noticeable that this was their first date or not.

“Hey, this is the place Lindsay was telling me about the other day. You up for Mexican?” Michael asked gesturing towards the restaurant in front of them, a large _Grand Opening_ sign hanging from the top.

“I’m always up for a good burrito,” Gavin smiled, ducking inside the small building, tugging Michael along behind him.

They got their table quickly, ordering bevs and food before settling back into their comfortable silence.

Gavin wanted to reach across the table and hold Michael’s hand again, but he didn’t want to be too handsy on their first date, so he kept his hands tucked neatly in his lap.

“So when do you think Ryan will snap and murder us all?” Michael asked suddenly, clearly looking for small talk.

“I give it another month; I feel Ray might be able to talk him out of it until then. But when you snap, you snap,” he shrugged.

They went back and forth asking each other stupid questions and coming up with dumber answers until their food arrived. They didn’t stay much longer after.

“So… this food is shit,” Michael stated after his first three bites.

“It… it really is yeah,” Gavin chuckled.

“Lindsay doesn’t know what she’s talking about,”

“Maybe she got the one good thing on the menu when she came,” Gavin tried to reason.

“Doubt it,” Michael laughed.

Michael flagged down the waitress shortly after asking for the check and ‘No boxes, thank you,’ and then they were out the door and walking hand in hand again down the sidewalk.

They had been out for two hours now and that’s when the texts started flowing in. Gavin pulled his phone out to see multiple texts from Geoff, asking if he was actually going to come home tonight, or if it was going ‘well’ with a winky face.

Gavin was so busy replying that yes, he’d be home at an acceptable time and that there was no need for winky faces, that he didn’t realize they had walked into a crowd, cheering and clapping. The Brit looked over at Michael whose interest was piqued, so they slipped further into the mass of people until they were at the front, only then Gavin got scared and cowered behind Michael when he saw the clown juggling in the center, a red top hat laid upside down on the ground in front of him for tips.

Michael had no idea what was going on when Gavin suddenly wrapped both his arms around one of Michael’s stepping close and pressing his front to the others back, not that he was complaining.

“Everything alright Gav?” he asked, reaching his other hand out to pat him on the back.

“I don’t like clowns,” Gavin whispered in his ear, burrowing his face in the redheads neck. Michael could feel the blush instantly creeping to his cheeks when he reached around to lead Gavin out of the crowd, but since they were now at the front with people surrounding them from behind they had to cut across the middle.

He tried to keep them from being too noticeable but it seemed the clown didn’t like his thunder being stolen, so what did he do? He followed them around the circle causing Gavin to squeeze closer to Michael, if that was even possible.

He threw tiny pebbles at them as they made their way across, and the people in front of them thought it was so funny they huddled closer together and wouldn’t let the two through. Now, normally Gavin would’ve done something to calm Michael before he could get angry, but with the clown closing in and his fear rising he did nothing to stop Michael from telling everyone to ‘fuck off’ and pushing his way through.

Some people shouted obscene things at them as they forced themselves free, but Gavin paid no mind to it, focusing on the warmth of Michael’s arm around him. He didn’t notice however that the clown was still behind them, not too far from his crowd, but far enough that it was alarming. As soon as Michael realized this though he spun on his heels.

“Fuck off creep,” he snapped, stepping forward to intimidate. The clown made an offended sound, placing a hand over his heart and making to step closer when Michael placed a hand on his chest and lightly pushed him back. “Don’t test me,” he warned, turning around again and grabbing Gavin, forcing him to walk as fast as he did.

They didn’t speak again until they were at Michael’s car, leaning against the door when Michael suddenly rounded on Gavin. “I’m sorry,” he blurted.

“For what?” Gavin asked startled.

“Being a dick to that guy,” the redhead mumbled.

“Don’t be sorry,”

“Are you sure? I don’t want you thinking I’m always like that,”

“Michael, I’ve known you for quite some time now. Plus, he was following us around. Bloody loon,” Gavin told him, reaching out to take both of his hands and swing them gently.

Michael merely smiled and made his way to the driver’s side of the car, waiting until Gavin was all set before driving them back to Geoff’s house.

He left him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, promising he’d speak with him the next day.

Gavin went to bed with a wide grin on his face, knowing that it was only the start of something amazing, and he was right.

The next envelope was from a month later, Gavin didn’t even need to open it to know what it was about, but he did anyway.

_I kissed you today. And I know that the whole ‘fireworks’ thing is all a bunch of bullshit, but Gavin, I mean it when I say that kissing you gave me a shock. You left fire everywhere you touched me, and I didn’t mind being burned one bit._

_I couldn’t have asked for a better person to be rained inside with._

Gavin had stayed at Michael’s house on a Tuesday night because the redhead decided to have an achievement hunter get together outside of work at his house. They played Mario with Ray and Ryan, Call of Duty with Geoff and Jack and eventually they resorted to twister when looking at screens for so long got painful.

The weather had been shit all day, raining on and off in downpours and there had been multiple thunderstorm warnings for their county, but when it hit ten o’clock and the rain didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon they all began retreating back to their homes. Gavin however waved Geoff off when he told him they were leaving, saying he preferred to stay with Michael for the night. Geoff gave an alarmed look to Gavin and a stern one to Michael telling him to ‘keep it in your pants’ before he stepped out into the cold rain. They both laughed at that since they had yet to even kiss yet, agreeing that they wanted to take things slow.

They cuddled on the couch watching movies for a good two hours before Gavin started drifting off to sleep. A soft kiss was pressed on the crown of his head and then he was out.

He woke up hours later, curled up in Michael’s bed, blankets drawn up to his nose and phone ringing next to him.

“Hello?” he answered, voice raspy, he didn’t bother checking the caller ID so he was surprised when Burnie answered.

“Hey Gavin, you didn’t answer the text I sent you earlier, but the office is closed for the day, we don’t want people going out in this weather,” he explained.

“Oh, thanks,” Gavin replied, finally looking at the clock to see it was almost ten in the morning, three hours later than he normally would’ve slept.

He chatted with Burnie for a few more minutes before hanging up and getting out of the bed. He softly padded into the hallway, towards the kitchen where he found Michael leaning over the oven, cursing to himself as bacon popped and sizzled on a pan in front of him.

“Fucking Christ,” Michael grit out as a particularly bad splash caught him in the chest.

“You’re fault for cooking topless,” the Brit said suddenly, causing Michael to jump nearly a foot in the air.

“Well I can’t sleep with a shirt on and _someone_ was sleeping in my bedroom,” he teased, turning back to the stove.

“Oh? You’re blaming me? If I remember correctly I fell asleep on the couch,” Gavin argued, stepping closer.

“I was being a gentleman!” Michael laughed then, turning around to pull Gavin into a hug. They stayed pressed together for a long minute before the bacon popped again and Michael whipped around to make sure it wasn’t burning. Gavin laughed at the sight and turned toward the fridge.

“Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?” he asked, pulling out a carton of orange juice and two glasses.

“I got the text as soon as it came in and went back to bed, woke up only an hour ago,” he shrugged. Gavin hummed back at him, setting both glasses down on the table.

He walked into the living room then to find Michael’s phone charger, seeing it stuck in the wall by the window.

It was then that Gavin really saw how bad the rain was. The sky was dark grey, rain coming in sheets down on the streets, slamming against trees and bushes outside. The wind was roaring and Gavin could see a few branches on the tree across the street had snapped off, lying helplessly in the middle of the road.

He walked back into the kitchen then, sitting at the table while he waited for Michael to finish. “It’s really coming down out there,”

“Yeah, it’s fucking insane,” the redhead nodded.

“It’s a good thing we didn’t get rained in at work then,

“Yeah, that would suck, the six of us all trapped in a room together for god knows how long,” he chuckled, turning the stove off and placing the bacon on a paper plate next to him.

“I feel like Geoff would go crazy and kill all of us,”

“Ryan would definitely beat him to it,” Michael countered, placing two plates down on the table and taking his seat across from Gavin.

“So,” the Brit started, “what do you wanna do today?”

“Well, all the news reports say that everyone should stay inside, so, we could just watch a movie, play some video games and stuff,”

“Sounds good boi,”

They finished eating and went their separate ways to change into some normal clothes, Michael lent Gavin a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and then they settled into the couch loading up Minecraft.

“Let’s create our own world,” Gavin suggested, turning creative mode on and beginning to fly around to fully unlock the map.

“I’ll be Jack and build us a house,” Michael offered, flying to the center of the map.

“Should we have flower pots in front of our house, a welcome sign?” Gavin offered.

“Sounds lovely,”

They sat side by side, tossing ideas back and forth to make sure their house looked the best, and eventually Gavin decided to build a mote of lava around it. They even made a cage full of zombies in front of it to ‘warn other creatures.’

It had gone really well actually. Too well. They probably should’ve turned auto save on.

Because then the power went out. Two hours of work gone.

“Fuck!” Michael yelled, throwing his controller to the ground while Gavin squawked behind him.

“We really need to be better about saving our things Michael,”

“Fuck that!” he roared. “It looked so fucking cool,”

“Michael, we can make it again later,” Gavin said softly, reaching a hand out to place between the redheads shoulder blades, calming him instantly.

“Sorry,” Michael whispered, turning to Gavin with a sheepish smile.

“It’s fine boi,” he laughed. “Let’s play a game!” he chirped, rushing toward the hall closet where he knew Michael kept board games.

“Monopoly?”

“I call the dog!”

“Dammit!”

“Sorry,” Gavin said then, not sounding sorry at all.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll get some candles,”

He walked into the kitchen and came back a few moments later, arms cradling a few small white candles. He laid them around the table, lighting them around the bored so they could read properly.

“Now, don’t go setting all your money on fire,” Michael warned as he handed Gavin his bills.

“Will do Michael,” he threw him a thumbs up and got to work, sorting all the cards out while Michael handled the money situation.

They spent most of the game talking about pointless things, like how stupid some of the names were, or how one of them had to be cheating.

“There’s no way you can have over a thousand dollars right now Gavin, you’ve got to be cheating somehow,”

“How would I be cheating?” Gavin asked exasperated.

“I don’t know! You’re a slippery bastard that’s how,”

“You’re the banker! How am I supposed to be stealing money from you when it’s all sitting right in front of you!”

The argument ended when Michael flipped the board, clearly upset to be losing, and tackled Gavin. They rolled around laughing for a good five minutes before they were both out of breath, sprawled across each other in a mess of limbs.

Gavin closed his eyes for a while, catching his breath before he opened them to find Michael only centimeters away, an intense look on his face.

“Michael,”

“Yes?” the redhead answered coming closer, close enough that their lips were practically already pressing together.

“Kiss me,” Gavin breathed.

Clearly he didn’t need to tell Michael twice since the second the words were out of his mouth his boyfriend was covering his mouth with his. It was slow and gentle. At first. Just lips pressed against lips and hands slowly cradling faces.

Gavin could feel his cheeks heating up when Michael’s hand slid to his neck, better angling him. And then the kiss grew heated, hands roaming lower and lips moving faster.

Before Gavin knew it there were hands wrapping around his back, coming between him and the floor, and lifting him up so he could sit properly in Michael’s lap. Gavin’s hands flew to his shoulders instantly, gripping tightly as his hands slowly slipped up the back of Gavin’s shirt, running along his heated skin.

 _So much for taking it slow,_ Gavin thought, but he wasn’t really worried about it, too caught up in the movement of Michael’s head when he pulled away and started kissing down his jaw, resting on his neck and biting gently before swiping his tongue over it to sooth the sting.

They lost track of time between kisses, because before Gavin knew it they were on the couch, shirtless and the storm was coming to a close, one last clap of thunder sounding out before it started dying down. It was then that Gavin noticed the dark spots littering Michael’s neck and shoulders, and he could only imagine how he looked, his chest was covered in dark red spots and his hair was probably a mess after Michael had been tugging and running his hands through it.

“We should probably slow down Michael,” he whispered then, putting his hands on Michael’s shoulders and wiggling away.

“You’re the one that wanted me to kiss you,” the redhead teased, leaning in to peck the Brit once more before settling in on the opposite side of the couch.

“Yeah, kiss me, not maul me,” Gavin giggled nervously.

They spent the rest of the day watching movies on Michael’s lap top until the battery ran out. It rained off and on a few more times before night came and they were bored out of their minds. Finally Gavin decided that he was tired of being cooped up all day, so he slipped his shoes on and grabbed a jacket.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Michael asked wrapping his arms around him from behind.

“I need some fresh air,”

“You’ll get sick,” Michael argued.

“So come with me, we can be sick together,” Michael didn’t even think about it for a full minute before he was shrugging a coat on and following Gavin out.

They jumped in puddles and ran wild in the streets, standing purposefully on the edge of the sidewalk as cars passed by so they’d be splashed. Finally Gavin decided to start a game of tag and sprinted down the street, stopping around a corner to catch his breath while he waited for Michael to catch up. When he did he gave a shout of surprise when he felt the weight of his boyfriend slam into his back, stumbling to keep them both upright before carrying him in the direction of his apartment building.

When they made it back to his building they stopped at the top of the steps when Gavin shimmed off Michael’s back and turned the redhead around, planting a quick kiss on his lips and smirking before opening the door and gesturing for him to go inside.

Geoff was pissed when they came into the office the next day, noses red and skin pale, but their matching grins kept him from saying anything.

When Gavin finished reading the letter his face was on fire and his eyes were wetter than before, he stared at the ceiling as he blinked them away, refusing to let himself cry.

The next letter was dated three months later.

_We made love for the first time last night. I wish it had been more romantic considering it was after a fight and we were really drunk. I still feel bad for being such a dick, but you were so beautiful, and I asked you first thing this morning if you regretted it, and you kissed me so hard, I felt every doubt melt away._

Their first big fight as a couple had been after leaving the bar a few drinks in. Gavin had gone for another round while Geoff sang a drunken rendition of ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ up on stage. Ray was clapping wildly while Griffon videotaped the whole thing.

While Gavin waited for the blond lady behind the counter to assemble their drinks he felt someone slide onto the stool next to him. He turned to find a woman, a pretty brunette with bright green eyes staring at him, a seductive look on her face. He smiled politely at her before turning back to the counter and waiting.

“I’m Alexa,” she greeted, hand landing hard on Gavin’s shoulder while she leaned into him, clearly drunk out of her mind.

“Gavin,” he answered as the bartender placed a black tray full of drinks down in front of him before turning away with a wink to help the next customer.

“That’s a lot of drinks for one boy,” she smiled, pulling her hand away from his arm and tapping her fingers against the black plastic.

“I’m here with a lot of people,” he said casually, making to stand only for her to shift closer, blocking his exit.

“Do you wanna leave with just one?” she asked innocently, running her hand up his arm, causing him to shiver uncomfortably. It was then that Gavin realized how this might look, an attractive woman leaning into him and chatting him up at the bar.

“I already am,” he told her apologetically, pushing her hand off of him.

“That’s a shame,” she pouted.

“Yeah, well, nice meeting you,” he said quickly, successfully freeing himself and making his way back to his table where Geoff was now sitting back down and a group of women were up on stage singing ‘My Heart Will Go On.’ He set each person’s drinks in front of them before turning to Michael, sliding in with a smile while he set his drink in front of him.

If he wasn’t already three shots in he probably would’ve noticed the difference in Michael’s behavior. He was oddly quiet, especially since when Michael was bevved, he was loud, and Michael was very very bevved.

He continued chatting with everyone while they observed the karaoke skills of the people around them, laughing at some and cheering for others. They stayed until Jack and Caiti declared they were going home and bid everyone their goodbyes.

Everyone else started packing up shortly after, throwing money down on the table for Geoff who had put everything on a tab under his name before heading out. Ryan and Ray were Michael and Gavin’s ride, driving them silently to Michael’s apartment building where the two would be staying for the night.

Ray and Ryan must have noticed the tension in the back seat, but Gavin was oblivious to it. When they finally arrived at Michael’s they slid out of the car and walked calmly up the steps, but when Michael’s hand reached out to wrap around Gavin’s wrist and drag him up the stairs Gavin realized something was wrong. They rushed up the stairs, fumbling with the keys to his door before finally kicking it up and stumbling inside.

“What’s wrong boi?” Gavin asked, reaching out to wrap his arms around Michael’s neck, only to be pushed away.

“I saw you flirting with that girl at the bar,” Michael said shortly, kicking his shoes off and shrugging out of his jacket.

“What girl?” Gavin asked tilting his head.

“The one at the bar! She was all over you and you weren’t exactly pushing her off,” he explained, rounding on Gavin, only stumbling slightly.

“Are you serious right now?” Gavin asked offended.

“Yes Gavin, hell two more minutes and you probably would’ve left with her,” he ranted.

“You honestly believe I’d cheat on you with some bird at the bar? You’re being ridiculous,”

“Oh? _I’m_ being ridiculous? You’re the one chatting up said bird! You barely paid any attention to me when you got back,”

“Michael, you’re being a right prick,” Gavin told him stepping in his face.

“You’re a tease, you love the attention,”

“You’re such a child Michael!” Gavin shouted, poking Michael hard in the chest only for his hand to be grabbed roughly and his back to meet the wall.

“Well don’t go flirting with everyone you meet!” he demanded.

The air between them was electric, their faces were red and their breathing was ragged. Gavin took a long moment to calm down before he looked up, meeting Michael’s eyes. Michael it seemed had calmed down too because in seconds his mouth was on Gavin’s and his hands were releasing Gavin’s wrists in favor of lifting his shirt up and over his head.

Minutes later they were in Michael’s bed, nothing but the sheets on top of them as they moved in a steady rhythm, breath mixing and hands searching skin.

Gavin woke up when he felt fingers tracing nonsensical patterns on his back, his skin was too warm and he was trapped to the bed by Michael’s legs.

“Good morning beautiful,” Michael whispered when Gavin’s eyes finally focused up on him. Instead of answering that he reached a hand out and ran his pointer finger along the bridge of Michael’s nose, bopping him gently. Michael smiled softly before leaning down to press a kiss to Gavin’s forehead and pull him onto his chest. “How do you feel?” he asked hesitantly.

“Fantastic,” the Brit mumbled, burrowing his face in Michael’s neck.

“Do you… you don’t-“ Michael started, struggling to find the right words, causing Gavin to lift his head and search Michael’s face.

“What’s wrong?”

“You don’t regret it, do you?” he asked slowly. Gavin’s eyes widened as he thought back to it. He remembered everything, their fight, their stumbling down the hall before Michael finally gave up and picked him up, letting Gavin wrap his legs completely around his waist as they crashed into his bedroom. He remembered cold hands on heated skin, soft lips pressing against every inch of him.

“Michael,” Gavin breathed, leaning up on his elbows so he could easily straddle the redhead’s waist. He didn’t say another word, just leaned down to kiss him softly, slowly; giving him every ounce of passion he could muster so early in the morning.

They spent the rest of the day in bed, cuddling close and only leaving to use the rest room or grab drinks before Michael dragged the Xbox into the bedroom and set it up so they could play games in bed.

He never moved it back to the living room.

Gavin read three more letters, each one a short snippet about dates they had gone on or funny happenings at work, before Gavin finally got to the light pink envelope.

_I told you I love you today, and you said it right back._

They had just finished recording GTA for the day when they took a short break for a snack or drinks. Everyone else was quick to rush out of the room, claiming they needed a beer or the rest room. It was then that Michael chose to roll his chair over to Gavin’s desk and take his hand. Gavin smiled brightly at him, glad that his boyfriend was back to normal since he had been so quiet and closed off all morning.

“What’s up boi?” he asked, reaching out to run his thumb across his cheek.

“I-“ Michael began, stopping to take a deep breath. “I love you,” he blurted. It didn’t take a second for Gavin’s face to break out into a wide grin and his arms to wrap around Michael’s neck pulling him into a long kiss.

“I love you too,”

Michael was much more upbeat in their next recording.

He read two more about some of the shenanigans that happened during videos that he found absolutely adorable before he got to the fifth to last one.

_You’ve been acting so weird lately. You don’t kiss me as long and you’re spending more nights back at Geoff’s house. Did I upset you? Are you hurt? Do you still love me?_

_Please talk to me Gav. I need to know what’s wrong so I can try to fix it._

_Whatever I did I’m sorry. If I was too hard on you in a certain video, or if I wasn’t paying enough attention to you._

_If my love isn’t enough anymore. I need to know._

He knows exactly what Michael’s talking about.

Gavin became insecure. He got scared. Michael was always so closed off when they were surrounded by others, but the second they were alone he was all lovey dovey. It took a long time for Gavin to realize this though, and after he did he got scared.

So he started to pull away, afraid that he was the one that loved too much, afraid that he would be the one to get hurt in the end. He tried to be more open with Michael in front of the others, but Michael, feeling like he had to keep up this strong guy appearance would shut down or play it off.

The next letter was from a week later.

_We got in a fight tonight. You walked out. You’ve never done that before._

Gavin had gone out after work every day that week and ended up coming home in the wee hours of the morning. So finally he got home, crawled into bed beside his boyfriend and jumped when Michael sprang up, eyes hard.

“Are you cheating on me?” was the first thing he said, causing Gavin to roll out of bed and stand up.

“What?”

“Where have you been every night this week? You keep disappearing and not telling me where you are,”

“I’ve been at bloody Ray and Ryan’s!” Gavin yelled.

“Then why can’t you just tell me that when I text you asking where you are!”

“Because you don’t own me Michael! I can hang out with our other friends sometimes,” he snapped.

“You should have the decency as my boyfriend to tell me where you are!”

They went back and forth for another twenty minutes, saying things they regretted in the morning and sending each other heated looks that would scare any outsider.

“This is bullshit,” Gavin rolled his eyes stomping out of the bedroom. He slammed the door shut behind him and called a cab, arriving at Geoff’s house just after two AM.

The black envelope was next, date written in silver sharpie across the front. It was the day after they broke up.

_You dumped me. You actually did it. You packed up your bags and told me you couldn’t do it anymore. I- I don’t get what I did, I love you so much, and now you’re gone and you won’t answer my calls or texts and Ray doesn’t know what’s going on, and Geoff won’t talk to me._

_I need you to talk to me Gav, I’m going insane and it’s only been thirteen hours._

Gavin didn’t want to think back to those days, so he was quick to open the next envelope.

_It’s been two weeks, and I’m trying so hard to get over you, trying to act like I’m not dying inside when we start recording and Geoff makes us a team. I can’t handle sitting next to you every day and not being able to reach out and hold you._

“It’s not like you did that much when the others were around anyway,” Gavin mumbled to himself as he pulled open the last envelope. It was from two weeks ago.

_I went on my first date tonight after you. I didn’t tell anybody about him. His name was Mark and he was everything you weren’t, he was short, and blond, American and smart. I hated him. He was nice and didn’t say one rude thing all night._

_His lips tasted like cherries. I hate cherries; you’re the only one that knows that._

The tears were flowing freely now, Gavin gave up on trying to hold them back any longer, letting them pool up and cloud his vision.

“What was the bloody point of all this!” Gavin cried aloud, shoving all the envelopes away from him so he could stand up and walk around. He rubbed furiously at his eyes, trying to calm himself down, but he only found himself growing more agitated as the seconds ticked by. He picked the shoe box up and threw it on the bed, knocking it over and sending a green envelope and a small yellow sticky note flying across the bed.

“Fucking hell,” Gavin sighed, reaching out for the real last letter. It was from one day ago.

_Gavin,_

_I talked to Geoff today, and he finally gave me the answers I had been begging for for so long._

_You- you honestly believed I didn’t love you?_

_You thought that everything I said was all a lie? To what? Get you in my bed? That’s not true Gavin, I loved you long before I had you, and I still love you even when I don’t._

_How could you be so stupid Gav! You threw away so much because you were scared? If you would’ve just sat down with me and asked me if I loved you I would’ve told you the truth._

_Your smile makes my heart race and your skin is the softest I’ve ever felt. You’re voice makes me swoon like a teenage girl in an anime and your hair is a mess. In a crowded room I will always search for you and your eyes are like gate ways to some sort of other world, and all I know is it’s a world I wanna spend all of my time in for the rest of my life._

_Gavin, I am in love with you, it’s been three months. Three months of hell, and I am still so in love with you Gavin. I wish you would’ve talked to me sooner so I wouldn’t have to tell you so late that you are everything I’ve ever dreamed of._

_I’ve never been all that comfortable with PDA, especially coming from Jersey where I watched gay people get their shit kicked in for holding hands. It wasn’t because I didn’t love you that I pulled away, it was because I was scared of what some people would say, and I know that’s not really better but it’s the only excuse I have to offer._

_I don’t really know what my goal with sending you this box is. I guess I just want you to know that while we were together I loved you with everything I had, and I still love you with all of that and more._

_-Michael_

Gavin let out a gut wrenching sob as he finished that, reading it over two more times to make sure it was real before he sank onto his bed and started putting the letters back in order.

He spent the next hour rereading every letter, and then he went back and read his favorite ones again before tucking each one back into their envelope and tying them together with the red string again as he set them back into the box.

It was then that he remembered the sticky note, lying at the end of his bed. He reached out for it and turned it over to see the words,

_This is everything I didn’t say._

Without another word Gavin pulled his phone from the night stand and unlocked it, scrolling through his contacts before stopping on Michael’s name.

It only rang once.

“Hello?” Michael said, he sounded hopeful and it made Gavin smile big and wide.

“Can you come over? We have a lot to talk about,”

“Is it good or bad?”

“It’s great,” he grinned.

“I’ll be there in ten,”

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, just thought I'd give you guys a quick little one shot to show I'm still alive. I hope you guys enjoyed it and I hope to hear from some of you soon!


End file.
